1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combination device having a magnetic recording and reproducing unit and an electronic tuning type receiver where the channel presetting switches of the electronic tuning type receiver also can act as the operating switches of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, as a result of the rapid progress in electronic technology, a receiver capable of electronically performing preset station selection has been proposed. In this preset type receiver, a memory is addressed by the outputs from band selecting and channel selecting switches, and band and channel signals stored in the selected address of the memory are read out and provided to an up-down counter. The up-down counter also provides to the user the capability of manually tuning of the receiver.
In the present mode of operation, the digital output of the up-down counter is converted into an analog signal and is applied to an electronically-controlled variable capacitance diode (varactor diode). The variable capacitance diode is part of the tuning circuit of the receiver. Thus, the digital information read out from the selected address of the memory controls via the up-down counter the signal selected by the tuning circuit of the preset type receiver.
The channel selecting switches mentioned above are, for example, non-lock type push-button switches, while the band selecting switch is, for example, a rotary switch. Whenever these channel selecting switches and the band selecting switch provide channel and band selecting address signals to the memory, the band and channel signals stored in the selected address are outputted and provided to the up-down counter.
In the electronic tuning type receiver thus discussed, the tuning information for a desired station is stored for future retrieval when both the channel selecting switches and a presetting switch are selectively operated, e.g., closed, by the user.
When such an electronic tuning type receiver is combined with a magnetic recording and reproducing unit, the number of required switches for both units is greatly increased. Specifically, the band selecting and the channel selecting switches for the electronic tuning type receiver must be provided as well as the switches for operating the magnetic recording and reproducing unit. The number of required switches inherently increases the size of the combined unit because of the panel area needed to accommodate the switches. In addition, the required switches substantially increase both manufacturing and maintenance costs, and also may have an undesired aesthetic effect due to panel crowding and to a cluttered appearance.